Blush, Bronzers, NARSComments Off on Nars Splendor in the Grass Cheek Palette Review and Swatches

Oct312013

There is a new multi-tonal blush palette released in the Nars Splendor in the Grass Cheek Palette ($49), set for release to Nars boutiques, Nars online, and select retailers (presumably, this will not be available to all Nars retailers). This palette includes a mix of shades already in Nars standard line, and therefore is a nice introduction for those who do not already own them, or for those who want a lovely combination of pre-selected shades in one easy-to-use place.

Unlike some of the items in Nars Holiday line, Splendor in the Grass does not have the “Guy Bourdin” red splash logo on the outside of the palette.

This large palette measures out to roughly 3 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches, and includes Albatross Highlighting blush (shimmery white), Dolce Vita, Angelika (sparkling cool pink), and Sex Appeal (light, soft peach). It has a giant, beautiful mirror and slim profile that’s so lovely for tucking into a drawer, cosmetic bag, or overnight bag.

Swatches:

Because I’m a big fan of these colors, and they looks so pretty in combination, Nars Splendor in the Grass is well worth a god look. Albatross and Sex Appeal can be pretty upper cheek shades, while Dolce Vita can be used to sculpt the cheek lower on the face. Angelika is one of those brightening, life-giving shades that can be used with the entire combination (or not). I did a look with this palette this morning and –oh my–it really does deliver excellent quality, gorgeous pigmentation, finely-milled texture, and a really flattering flush of color. I love having the highlighter right there. Sometimes to save time I skip highlighter, and really, life is too short to skip highlighter! My upper cheekbones thank you Nars!

Let’s think about if forced to choose (don’t make me!), what you might do if you had to choose just one of Nars Holiday 2013 blush palettes. On one hand, if I didn’t have many blushes, I’d be very tempted to skip some lattes and put them toward the slightly more expensive iNARS One Night Stand ($65) blush palette (reviewed here). I like the fact that there is more choice in the One Night Stand palette, and the cool pink in the six-pan palette has no sparkle.

One the other hand, some people have a serious amount of Nars blushes already–Laguna and Orgasm have certainly made their appearances before. In that case, I would certainly be tempted by NARS Splendor in the Grass as a well-executed sculpting palette. When I used this one, the combination of Dolce Vita and Albatross was stunning (together with a pop of the smaller Sex Appeal). I think you’d have to review your blush stash to see–but you certainly can’t go wrong with Splendor in the Grass.

Nars Cosmetics sent this palette to Cafe Makeup without charge for consideration for review. This post contains an affiliate link (for more information, see About Cafe Makeup).

NARS is about to release an epic Andy Warhol collaboration for Holiday 2012. This image, above, is only part of the entire collection. In addition, there are a number of individual sets. As an Andy Warhol fan, I’m so excited for this collection that I can barely breathe. We’re about to run a beauty marathon. Are you with us?

First of all, Liz and I both love art. We’ve always had a special place in our hearts for Warhol. I’ve been reading books about him since my college days. When we found ourselves in Pittsburgh a few years ago, we went to the Andy Warhol Museum. If you find yourself anywhere near it, go. It’s very well done, and you can do it in an hour or two. Well worth your time. Also, there was an incredible exhibit in Paris in 2009. So beautifully curated. Although I’d read some of his books and seen much of his work before, I learned so much more about Warhol during that exhibit. The press kit came packed with reproductions, so we thought it would be fun to use these as backgrounds for our product pictures.

Photo by Paul Rocheleau

Today, we’ll look at the Larger than Life Lipglosses ($26 each), five shades that range from a candy pink to an pop-worthy red. The formula is the traditional one for this line–slightly sheer, highly glossy and pleasant texture. Although we both loved the formula, Liz wasn’t a big fan of the small brush. Although it does lend precision, she thought it made application a little uneven (which is quickly fixed by rubbing the lips together to smooth out the texture).

For these lip swatches, please keep in mind that Liz has very little natural lip pigmentation. If you do, the color will vary because these glosses are not opaque. Your natural lip color will shift the color somewhat depending on your application.

International Velvet, named for one of Andy Warhol’s Superstars, is a soft sheer very light flat pink. If you aren’t familiar, Superstars were friends of Warhol whom he filmed and photographed. They fit into his philosophy that “In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.” He simply declared them superstars, featured them in his art, and so they were. International Velvet is a sheer cream–I could detect no sparkles.

This pink is not as strong as a Pepto pink–it’s a soft color like cotton candy.

Here is International Velvet on Liz. I can see this looking quite incredible with a silver and black smokey eye:

Candy Says was my favorite–it’s a shimmering strawberry pink. The Larger Than Life glosses do shimmery quite well.

Candy Says is named for a song by The Velvet Underground, with whom Warhol was affiliated. On Liz:

Going deeper down the tonality scale, Viva is a medium to deep rose which is somewhat subdued. It reminds me a bit of Nars Dolce Vita gloss, but it is not a duplicate.

Viva runs a touch warm, although it is neutral enough to look fabulous with a smokey eye.

On Liz:

Holly Woodlawn is a sheer red. Like many of the names in this collection named after a Warhol superstar.

On Liz, you can see that it doesn’t go too vibrant. The color is soft enough yet still flattering.

Here are arm-swatches of all products in sunlight:

Aside from some glosses in the upcoming sets, these Larger than Life lipglosses are the only lip products in this large release. I believe there are some beautiful, Nars-esque colors here. I especially loved Candy Says. However, there are times when you are looking for a perfect color and it cannot be found. That’s when I go to Nars. For some reason, this line come out with those colors-with-a-twist that perfectly walk the fine line that is both wearable and interesting. I believe this is true of a number of Nars permanent range (which will look fabulous with the many, many eye products in the Nars/ Andy Warhol collaboration). Some of these colors, like International Velvet and Penny Arcade, just do not seem to be anywhere else but here.